of course mrs. reagan was originally an actress who married ronald reagan in 1952. but it was left to nancy reagan's children to recount poignant memories of their mother and father. >> as her own health declined she was quite adamant and vocal about reuniting with my father on the other side after her passing. i am hoping for god's peace of mind that she got her wish. >> it would be a mistake by the way to consider her as somehow subordinate to him. they were co-equals. they complemented one another. individually they may have gone far but together they could and did go anywhere. >> nancy reagan was remembered today for her many contributions to her husband's presidency but none more important than the just say no campaign against drug abuse. which leads us right to the scourge which is the heroin epidemic in america today and

it is only getting worse every year. today the federal government announced that it will send $94 million to help centers in 45 states including pennsylvania and new jersey. "action news" reporter john rawlins is live at the addiction and treatment center in spring garden in philadelphia. >> reporter: hi, jim of some 90 some million dollars earmarked today only 325,000 will actually make it to philadelphia so it's not clear exactly what the impact is going to be but if you talk to people who run treatment proceeding grams like gaudenzia or you talk to police in any district the up swing is real and troubling. a few weeks ago upper darby police released this video. later he collapses from an overdose. heroin use up 63 percent between 2002 and 2013. it's become a cheap substitute for other drugs.

frank of gaudenzio explains people can get looked on pain pills following a medical procedure. >> sometimes you get a prescription for a month. then it's off to the races because all of a sudden you're addicted, you can't buy the pills anymore, the doctor won't give you another prescription so you turn to heroin which is cheaper and you see it over and over again. >> reporter: heroin use cuts across racial and economic lines. recently though it's biggest growth lab among white and the middle class. the new money announced today by the feds earmark an additional 325 thousand dollars for philadelphia. significant? >> given the severity of the problem, it's welcome, like certainly it doesn't appear to be enough. again, i'm not a numbers guy. >> reporter: heroin is a derivative of opium. in the late 19th century the german pharmaceutical company that developed aspirin trade marked heroin pitching it as a safe nonaddictive pain killer suitable for children's cough medicine.

so initially at least it was can considered a wonder drug in a world where pneumonia reigned and there were no antibiotics. it was a much needed cough suppressant. it was used as a safer derivative than morphine and it was supposed to help in alcoholism cures. that was a mistake. it obviously was very highly addictive and now more than a century later it is still causing trouble for us. live in spring garden, john rawlins channel6 "action news." jim. >> john, thank you. tonight on 20/20 anchor david muir has a special report on the heroin epidemic. muir takes viewers behind the statistics and into the homes of several families. families that have been directly affected by heroin addiction. you can see breaking point: heroin in america tonight at 10:00 here on channel6. police are trying to figure out what happened this morning on roosevelt boulevard. witnesses say it sure looked like a woman on a septa bus was assaulted and then hauled away by a man in a car.

but not according to the woman herself. "action news" chads pradelli has that story. >> reporter: the window is smashed and the nerves of passengers rattled after a man chased a woman on the bus. it was heading south on roosevelt boulevard before 2:00 a.m. when a pontiac bonneville came after it. police say a woman on the bus made reference the man in the car was crazy. at one stop. >> the male exited the vehicle when they stopped at a bus stop and she -- the bus driver wouldn't open the door for him so the bus driver continued on. >> reporter: then in the 4200 block of the boulevard, the man in the bonneville made his move cutting off the bus and forcing it to stop. >> that's when she gets off the bus and she's assaulted and she was forcibly put into the car. >> reporter: startled passengers just watched worried about their own safety. >> it is crazy because septa is a public place, so it's kind of crazy for somebody even to attempt to do that. >> reporter: police there was the they had an abduction but the woman showed up at a

police station and denied she had been kidnapped or assaulted. >> we obviously have video that shows differently but she continued to be uncooperative with us. >> reporter: investigators are now looking for the man. he's driving a silver 2001 to 2002 pontiac bonneville with temporary delaware paper tags reading xc975492. >> you don't know what this is about. >> no, we have no idea what it's about. that's why i'm hoping somebody could come forward and tell us what this is about. >> reporter: fleece are looking for that man. they say he faces criminal mischief charges. if you know that vehicle, call police. in northeast philadelphia, chad pradelli channel6 "action news. >> ♪ >> we have breaking news from the juniata section of philadelphia. a philadelphia police officer has been injured after getting hit by a car. this happened within the past half hour. the bike patrol officer was on the 3900 block of whitaker

avenue again in juniata. he was taken to the hospital by police. officials there say he should be okay. but a philadelphia cop getting hit by a car on whitaker avenue. authorities in berks county say the death of an infant is now a homicide investigation. three and a half month old anthony denozo snyder died in december inside home in reading. the coroner just ruled that the boy was poisoned and starved. no charges have been filed. this is an ongoing investigation. a forest fire has burned 350 ache can kearse in burlington county. the fire erupted in the area of baptist road and old tuckerton road in woodland township yesterday evening. firefighters were on the scene all day today working to contain the flames and put out hot spots. crews say the rain overnight certainly helped their efforts. the fire did not threaten any homes. it will be a a little cooler today. just a spectacular day in the

tri-state area. "action news" reporter trish hartman is live in logan square in philadelphia. trish, the beautiful weather and the start of the weekend not a bad combination. >> reporter: logan square one of the many places we found people in the city soaking up the sun on this friday afternoon. whether we are done with winter or not most people we spoke with agree this kind of weather brings out the kid in all of us. roberto clemente playground in fairmount was packed with kids swinging, climbing and playing pickup basketball. the sunshine brought out the young and the young at heart who have been waiting all wind to play outside. >> great weather. enjoying it. it's beautiful out here. you got to enjoy it while we can. >> reporter: for six-year-old teague this visit is in celebration of not just the warm weather but an excellent report card to boot. >> he had a half day because it was report card day. so we decided to go to the playground afterwards.

>> i played on the swing and go down the slide and go on the monkey bars. >> reporter: chloe forker a flurries couldn't have asked for a better day off from work. she's spending it with her dog sherman. >> we're hanging outside all day. sherman has been out so it's been a long winter so we're kind of hanging out in the park so we can get some fresh air catch up on some reading. >> reporter: employees at this software company were still on the clock but conditions prompted a change in scenery. >> when it's nice outer we sit in the park. >> reporter: with temperatures in the 60's, signs of spring were everywhere but some aren't convinced that winter is gone. >> the way that the winter has been going this season i don't think we have any idea what's going happen. it could be snowing next week. >> reporter: now she will be very happy to hear that as of now no snow is forecasted for next week. now while this weekend is supposed to be a little bit cooler most of the people we spoke with say they are still going to spend as much time as possible outside. we're live in logan square, trish hartman channel6 "action news." jim. >> thank you trish. philadelphia mayor jim kenney

was in rittenhouse square today to help kick off a program to bring more green to the city. tree philly is designed to increase the number of trees in the city. the program gives away free trees to city residents. more than a thousand are available. can coming up on "action news" tonight a memorial to a firefighter who died in the line of duty 118 years ago has gone missing. family members speak out tonight. and with the sign of a new backup quarterback the eagles have released mark sanchez. ducis rodgers has that story. >> and the 80's have been spread down thave beensuppresser south. no signs winter. we'll chat about the weekend temperatures and the chance for some rain coming up in accuweather. >> those stories and much more when "action news" continues tonight. >> ♪

>> and we have more breaking news at this hour. in a week that has seen an alarming increase in gun violence, there is yet more tonight on the streets of philadelphia. this time in brewerytown. chopper6 is over 29th and flora streets. that vehicle that you see there up on the curb, well, a man who was inside that vehicle was found shot. this happened within the past 15 minutes. again, 29th and flora streets in brewerytown. the victim has been taken to hahnemann hospital. we do not know about the individual's condition. >> ♪ >> this is new at 6 o'clock tonight. a theft at second and eerie he in north philadelphia has

disrespected the memory of a brave philadelphia firefighter from a long time ago. the 19th century. and it has caused dismay for the responders descendant's. "action news" owner vernon odom has that story. >> reporter: there was a plaque on the sidewalk at second and eerie but it's been stolen. this was eight a brass plaque dedicated to the memory of and sacrifice of philadelphia firefighter james maggie who perished fighting a fire here in the summer of 1898 nearly 118 years ago. >> in the process of him backing out of the building, what happened is the building collapsed and he was killed almost instandly. >> reporter: in 2006 the black was dedicated and placed at the factory site at second and eerie. his family's thoughts on the theft of the bronze plaque. >> you have to look past it and see what you can do to

maybe stop that kind of stuff from happening. >> to me it's just disrespectful that somebody would rip it out of the ground whether it was for drugs or any other. i understand circumstances but still it's a memorial black. it's like a slap in the face. >> reporter: jimmy ben is a prominent lawyer and first responders devote at any started dedicating these plaques in 2001. he's generated enough fund and spender personal money to put down nearly 290 so far. the firefighters union and ben have raised money for a new magee plaque. >> people gave their life preserving our stein it's almost unthinkable that someone would dig it up out of the concrete. it wasn't an easy task. to sell it for what a flick kell back. >> reporter: this is engine 45 at 26th and york and it's from here that hose man james magee went out that june flight to battle that factory fire. he never returned. his descendants would like the next plaque placed here. in north philadelphia, i'm

vernon odom, channel6 "action news." >> they are painting the town in wilmington today at least part of it with painter brush in hand wilmington mayor dennis williams decorated king street with a green stripe in honor of saint patrick's day day. tomorrow the irish culture club of delaware is sponsoring its 41st annual saint patrick's day parade.

>> he threw an inopportune interception or two but he gave it everything he got. always a member in the community. always giving everything he had to community causes. >> good guy mark sanchez was good guy. he's going somewhere else now. mark sanchez is the odd quarterback out. he knew he was toast once the eagles signed chase daniel to be their number two quarterback. sanchez traded to the denver broncos for a 2017 traditional draft pick he spent two seasons with the eagles started 10 games going four and six as a starter.

sanchez threw 18 touchdowns against 15 interceptions. the eagles introduced brandon brooks today. if you think he looks big you're right. the guard is 6-foot five ways 335 pounds. he was with the houston texans last year. brooks represents a major upgrade to the offensive line and once free agency opens several eagles currents line men textd brooks to put the hard sell on him. it worked. >> i want to go somewhere where i felt really wanted, where i felt i could fit in good with the guys, fit in good with the scheme. know not that i couldn't do it there. obviously i did it for four years but i just feel like at this point in my life this is where i need to be. >> nigel bran ham ready to go. he's the linebacker eagles plucked off the buffalo bills roster. he had 124 tackles in 2014. he says he knows what eagles fans are all about and he feels he's perfect for them. >> i feel like my style of play will fit this city pretty well. with the toughness and my

mentality, work hard, everything like that. >> he gets it. villanova is one win away from the big east tournament championship game. the cats face providence tonight a team that handed it one of its four loses this season. temple and south florida. the owls in control throughou throughout. first hey jalen bond leads the owls with 17 points. they have an eight-point lead at halftime. second half, the steal, ovie, he clips in with 13 points. the owls wip by 17. they will get uconn next. jalen adams hit one from three-quarters court to force that fourth overtime. they win 104-97. saint joe's and george washington. phil martelli in search of career win number 400. did not look good early. gw15 3-pointers. hawks down by as many as 16 in the first half but they mount

their biggest come back of the season. they outscore gw51-31 in the first half. hawks win 86-80. they've got dayton up next. we got an inkling of this last night. today we get the bad news. sixers rookie jahlil okafor is out for the season. the sixers say okafor will undergo a minor arthroscopic procedure on his right knee sometime soon. he will not resume basketball activities for six weeks, there are only five weeks left in the season. he was averaging 17 and a half points a game. the flyers begin the night three points out of the final wild card spot in the eastern conference thefts lightning in tam pennsylvania. the flyers have not won there in five years. >> they've been the best team in the league the last maybe 10 games so they going to want to come at us and make sure they get the win so it's going to be important for to us make sure that we're at our best. >> spring training. phillies and braves ryan howard he's bone out of the lineup last few days.

two run double in the first inning. howard leaves six men on base today: phillies win nin nine-two. >> adam joseph with the accuweather forecast filled with optimism. we'll continue in just a moment.

>> weekend accuweather forecast here's adam joseph. >> it kind of goes downhill the second half of the weekend but temperatures stay above normal both days. your sunnier day is saturday an few showers. >> at least downhill -- >> no, no, no it is not winter-like whatsoever.

it's just some rain. as we take a look at double scan live radar we had some showers early this morning. that sunshine came back. we've had a northerly wind and that helped to pull those temperatures back at the end of the week. so we slipped back to the 60's today from the 82 we enjoyed the last two days. but even at 69 as a high today is still 18 degrees above normal and also this weekend a big weekend as we spring forward one hour. do not forget to turn those clocks ahead one hour at bedtime on saturday night and also a good reminder this weekend to check the batteries in your smoke detector. here's those winds coming out of the north at 55 right now in allentown, 57 in lancaster and we've been spoiled the last couple of days. these numbers still well above the average but feeling a whole lot cooler. 60 in trenton, 63 millville and at the shore, temperatures there only in the 50's like they have been the last couple of afternoons because of that very chilly sea breeze.

satellite and radar, that cold front has now pushed way down to the south, so we're seeing a decent amount of clear skies presently but there is a system to the south of dallas. you see a little spin here. that will start to move to the north and east and throw a warm front our way as we get into sunday afternoon. but for tonight, it's mostly clear, great friday night overall. however, you're going have to bundle up late tonight. turning much cooler, 34 degrees in suburbs, 42 for center city. as we look at another front to our north and west on saturday it does not push in until very late in the day. so morning sunshine will give way to increasing clouds with this front and that system to the south. that 65 still around 14 degrees above average. the front comes through overall dry but then on sunday, high pressure to the north will send winds more northeasterly so that will bring the temperature down a degree or two on sunday and with that warm front coming in clouds build first thing in the morning and even some afternoon showers. and speaking of sunday, our

sun will set at 7:06 p.m. with there time change so we're getting those sun sets to be longer and longer. by april 1st, 7:25 and on may first our sun will set just before 8:00 p.m. the exclusive accuweather 7-day forecast, 65 tomorrow. it's sunny, still nice with increasing clouds in the afternoon. mild still on sunday, low to mid 60's but again, very cloudy with some showers developing in the afternoon and then periods of rain sunday night into monday. monday an easterly wind. it will be a raw feeling to the day at 54 degrees. but then it turns breezy, warmer brighter tuesday, 66. beautiful here on wednesday of 72. and then clouds build thursday. could be a couple of showers on saint patrick's day of 66 and then cooler again but again, cooler at 64 at that time is still close to 10 to 12 degrees above average. no signs of winter. >> thank you adam. >> yeah. >> finally tonight a gloucester county principal got himself into a sticky situation today. this was the result of a promise that oak valley

elementary school principal john schilling made to his students. he promised that if they raised more than $500 for the county animal shelter he would let them duct tape him to a wall. they obviously made their goal and had a school project that they will never forget. abc's "world news tonight" with david muir is next on channel six. "action news" continues at 10:00 on phl17 with brian taff sharrie williams adam joseph and ducis rodgers and please join us for "action news at 11:00 here on channel six. for cecily tynan adam joseph ducis rodgers and the entire "action news" team, i'm jim gardner. we hope you'll join us for "action news" at 11:00. >> ♪ this price can't be right...

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breaking news this friday night. the new fights breaking out at a trump rally. both outside, and inside. the clashes captured on video. >> get them out of here. >> the new security concerns after the assault earlier this week. as trump's republican rivals mount a last-ditch effort to stop him tuesday night. celebrating nancy reagan. the former presidents. he first ladies sitting beside one another. the laughter among them. the candor from nancy reagan's children. and diane sawyer among those remembering mrs. reagan. the deadly flooding. hundreds of rescues. states of emergency. and the two storms hitting this weekend. the urgent manhunt right now. a brazen escape. an american city. neighbors on high alert. two violent prisoners. one accused of murder, breaking free. and the alarming new headline about the zika virus. new cases expected in the u.s.,